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Heart of Midlothian
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A novel by Sir W. Scott, published 1818, as the 2nd series of Tales of My Landlord.
Scott has built one of his greatest novels on two historical incidents: the Porteous Riots, in which John Porteous, commander of the Edinburgh city guard, is dragged from the Edinburgh Tolbooth (‘the Heart of Midlothian’) and hanged by a mob after he has been pardoned for firing on the citizens at the hanging of Wilson, a convicted robber; and the story of Isobel Walker, whose pardon for child murder, for which she had been sentenced to death was obtained by her sister Helen, who walked to London to intercede for her with the duke of Argyle.
Subjects: Literature
